On March 28, 2014, the California State Senate suspended Yee as a Senator In response to the gun running and other criminal charges against him[1]

On July 1, 2015, Yee pled guilty to a felony racketeering count in relation to money laundering, public corruption and bribery in an organized crime case.[2] On February 24, 2016, Yee was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.[3]

Senator Yee is also an advocate of free speech, authoring legislation to protect teachers from retaliation by administrators as a result of student speech. He has further been praised by increasing access by the public to government documents, earning him the nickname "Senator Sunshine."